At the first tryouts for the Maties Cheerleaders 2018 team, the main message from Jessica Zoo, the head coach, was to “just have fun and own it”.
Nine hopefuls showcased their skills on the 23rd of July at the Maties Gymnasium in the first of a series of tryouts for stunt and dance teams for the 2018 season. At the action-packed trial session, the girls were enthusiastic about the prospects of making the squad.
A group of Stellenbosch University students warms up in preparation for Maties Cheerleading tryouts. PHOTO: Holly Charlton
Soi Steegmann, an international student, mentioned her love for “dancing and the camaraderie of a cheer team” as a motivation for attending the tryouts. Marcelle Steenkamp, a third-year Stellenbosch student, appreciated the idea of showcasing “the spirit of the university” through cheer. The challenging two-hour trial tested cheer skills like coordination, dance and fitness.
According to Zoo they are “happy to see anyone who wants to try-out until the end of August”.
Now approaching their second season in 2018, Maties Cheerleaders are hoping to improve on an already impressive first season with hard work at the core of their team’s ethos. “The girls that make the tryouts will be placed in the Junior Varsity team, which is a training programme that lasts six months,” said Zoo. She added that senior girls in the team would build up the juniors’ skills through mentorship.
Despite being a young team of only five months, Maties Cheerleaders have already tasted success. In July they won second place at the South African Majorette and Cheerleading Association (SAMCA) Nationals 2017. However, their ambition does not stop there. “We really want to show that the dancing we have is the best in the country,” said Zoo.
She added that another team goal for 2018 was to “push the standard of all-girls cheerleading” in South Africa.
The Maties Cheerleaders demonstrate a stunt to students at the tryouts. PHOTO: Holly Charlton
Jenay McEwan, a Stellenbosch engineering student and current Maties Cheerleader, said that she wanted “cheerleading to be considered a sport in its own right. It may have started off as something on the sidelines,” she explained, “but it hasn’t been that way in many, many years”.
Zoo agreed that misconceptions about cheering are still a problem. “It’s easy for the untrained eye to see it as just people shaking pompoms, but you need to be properly trained and it’s very technical.”
Zoo appealed to Stellenbosch students to show their support for the Maties Cheerleaders “by encouraging any of their friends who have skills to come to tryouts [so that the team] can represent the best.” – Holly Charlton
For more information on how you can try-out for the Maties Cheerleaders, follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/notes/maties-cheerleaders-stellenbosch/maties-cheerleaders-2017-18-info-pack/1737087263274567/